Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did, Duke and Tristan wouldn't be fighting over Serenity, who happens to be way younger than them, and Yugi and Yami would fall in love with someone already so that Tea can be jealous. x3

A/N: A big thanks to all those who reviewed. :) And to all my faithful reviewers who have reviewed since I started, I would personally like to say I am most flattered with all your positive reviews that helped motivate me. Bwahs. Anyways, on with the next chappie!

Chapter III

This has got to be some cruel joke meant to mock my hatred of pink. Someone's probably laughing their idiotic butts off right now.

That was the first thing she thought upon opening the box wrapped in lavender paper. But as she lifted the little plush out of the box, she couldn't help thinking how much it reminded her of the little stuffed animals she had back home when she was a little kid.

Home. She couldn't help the surge of sorrow that passed over her as she remembered her life as a child. She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the toy. With a long sigh, she opened her eyes and noticed the white piece of paper folded neatly at the bottom of the box. Curious, she pulled it out and unfolded it.

If you're planning to decapitate its head, who do you plan to throw it back at?

She smiled. Indeed who would she throw it back at? She had no clue as to who could have done it; like Joey said, it could be anyone. And she trusted that Joey was telling the truth. What reason would he have not to? It was so obvious that he was infatuated with her that there would have been no point in the whole "mysterious" valentine scheme.

So then who was it? As she pondered this question, she looked down at the paper again. A sudden thought struck her. She had not mentioned the decapitating in her story. Mainly because it was rather gruesome and now as she saw it, foolish. It had happened during biology class, and she had that class with everyone except Bakura and Tea.

So that left Kaiba, Joey, Yugi, Duke, Tristan, and Yami. But she had already eliminated Kaiba mainly because of the fact that she didn't want to think about what would happen if it was him. She shuddered at the thought. And she couldn't eliminate Joey just yet. After all, if the person sending all these things was truly sincere, it could be Joey. Though there was indeed doubt in her mind that it was him.

ARGH! This guy's doing this on purpose to mess with my head! Just stop thinking and pretend this never happened…

"Hey, whacha got there, Mai?" Yugi's voice broke through her thoughts.

She spun around and looked down at Yugi. He was beaming at her. He was usually so happy that one wouldn't find it weird if he came up with a huge smile on his face, yet she stared at him suspiciously, wondering why he would be so happy to see her.

Stop going around being suspicious of everyone! Argh! If you keep doing this all day you're gonna go insane!

"Oh, nothing, Yugi," she said, stuffing the box into her locker and closing it, hoping that he wouldn't press her for details.

"Sure didn't seem like nothing," he replied, but he didn't press further. Instead, he got straight to the point. "Do you have my biology notes?"

"Oh, sure, Yugi…" She rummaged in her backpack for the notes she had borrowed last Friday, then realized that they weren't there.

Great… Where are they? Oh, wait, I think it's at… home. She sweatdropped.

"Uh, Yugi? I think I might have left them at home," she said apologetically.

"Oh," he said, sounding almost disappointed, but immediately brightened. "That's all right, you can give them to me tomorrow, there's no rush."

He tilted his head to the side and smiled cutely at her in that classic childish way of his. As she watched him, she noticed how his blond bangs fell upon his face as he smiled, the ever so innocent yet mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked at her, and the way he looked up at her, and not only because he was short, but as if he respected her, admired her.

"Thanks anyway, Mai," Yugi said, the smile never leaving his face. "Well, see you later." And with that, he brushed past her, and rounded the corner.

She stared after him, hating herself for doing so much thinking on such matters. As she straightened up and prepared to leave, the bell rang. She cursed under her breath. She was late, and she hadn't even gotten her books yet.

"Ah, Ms. Valentine, how wonderful of you to join us today," came Mr. Hiashi's voice from the front of the room as Mai walked in, a tardy staining her otherwise completely clean record.

She frowned, glanced briefly at her teacher, and took her seat at the back of the class, next to Yugi.

He leaned over and whispered, "I'm sorry I made you late."

"Don't worry about it," she replied, yet the frown didn't leave her face.

Yugi frowned and looked down at his desk, guilt-stricken.

The class passed by quickly. When the bell finally rang to signal the end of class, Mai jumped up from her seat, as if the sudden rush would make up for her tardy. She was out the door before Yugi could get a chance to talk to her.

"Hey, Duke, did you know that chocolate makes you fat and have pimples!" Joey asked.

"WHAT! How come no one never told me that!" Duke stared wide-eyed at him and practically shoved his slice of chocolate cake in Joey's face.

Or at least, that's what happened in Joey's mind.

Instead Duke just stared at him suspiciously, then said, "Nuh uh, Wheeler, I'm not falling for that one."

He continued eating his sandwich, his eyes never leaving the blond in front of him, as if Joey would swipe the cake and run off with it in the next five seconds.

Tea was sitting to Joey's left, chattering endlessly with Yami, who sat with a bored expression, his chin propped up by his left arm, poking at his lunch with his right.

Mai stared at the scene before her as she came up to the table, raising an eyebrow at the strange sight. Finally, she settled with sitting between Duke and Yami, who scooted over to make room for her. Other than that, neither acknowledged her presence.

Tea stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Mai and smiled brightly, as if Mai had come to save her from the insanity of talking to a brick wall.

"Hey, Mai! Anything new from that secret admirer of yours yet?" Tea asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Nope, guess that was the end of it. I knew it was all a complete hoax from the beginning," Mai replied casually, not looking up from her salad, but she did notice out of her peripheral vision that the guys had stopped whatever they were doing and were staring at her. Even Yami had looked up from his lunch.

"So you mean to tell us that you believe that this whole 'mystery valentine' person is trying to play a trick on you? That's rather…" Yami trailed off, not knowing exactly what to say.

"—crazy!" Joey declared disbelievingly.

"Not quite the word I was looking for, but yes, as Joey puts it, it is rather 'crazy'," Yami said, quirking an eyebrow at Joey's choice of words.

"What's crazy?" a voice asked from behind Mai.

She turned and looked up, well, more like looked straight ahead, since it was Yugi who had spoken and was now standing in front of her, a questioning look in his eyes.

"The guy who sent the valentine before didn't send anything else and everyone here who has half a brain assumes that it's a joke," Duke explained.

He grinned as Joey glared at him. His smirk disappeared as Mai glared at him. As if suddenly realizing that Mai also thought it was a joke, he smiled that charming pretty-boy smile of his and took her hand in his and kissed it, although it was awkward as they were both sitting down.

"Except for you, my fair maiden," he drawled, raising an eyebrow suggestively at her.

Everyone exchanged looks that clearly voiced their thoughts: "Oh, brother."

"Aw, come on guys, sometimes these things take time, the guy's probably afraid Mai will reject him or something," Tea said logically.

Everyone stared at her, then at Yugi as he took his seat next to Yami and said, "Tea's right, guys. Don't ever assume anything. You guys should know that by now that things aren't always what they seem, especially since everything we've been through."

"Well, well, you seem to believe that strongly, Yugi, any reasons why?" Duke teased, his grin widening as Yugi flushed and looked down.

"Aw, give Yugi a break Duke, he's just stating his opinion," Joey said, also noticing Yugi's reaction.

"Yet Duke would always be willing to give everyone a hard time for his own enjoyment," Yami stated matter-of-factly.

"Exactly! Where's the fun in being serious all the time?" Duke agreed, glad that someone finally realized his cause.

As if suddenly noticing the missing members of the group, Yugi asked, "Hey, where are Bakura and Tristan?"

"Oh them… Bakura had to stay back to finish up his test and Tristan …well I'm not even sure where that doofus is," Duke said.

"Hey, I heard that! Why you…!" Tristan had suddenly popped out of nowhere and was now grabbing Duke in a headlock.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at him, all thinking, 'Where did he come from?'

"Hey, Tristan, where ya been buddy?" Joey asked, in an attempt to distract Tristan from his murderous task at hand.

"Oh," Tristan let go off Duke, seemingly forgetting all about him as he stuttered, "Uh, well, you see…"

"Alright, spit it out, where have you been?" Joey pressed.

"I was…" Tristan trailed off, obviously trying to come up with a convincing excuse.

"…at the flower shop attempting to buy a bouquet of roses suitable for Serenity, am I correct?" Yami finished, raising an eyebrow, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"…How did you know that!" Tristan asked, completely baffled.

"It is rather obvious that you are infatuated with Serenity; Joey has told me that much," Yami explained, glancing over at Joey as if to confirm his statement.

"Eh heh, well…" Tristan smiled sheepishly and took the seat next to Duke. "So… what'd I miss?"

She wasn't surprised that there was yet another gift waiting for her in her locker. What did surprise her though, was that the gift was a bouquet of a dozen red roses…
A/N: BWAHS! Cliffhanger! Gosh, I'm so evil. xD I personally liked how this chappie turned out. :D I was practically laughing manically by the time I finished this. Just ask my sister. Hehe.